How do I use a Targeted Internet Ad?

Targeted advertising is a method businesses can use to increase their chances of reaching their target audience. If you’re a small business or just starting, this can be easier said than done. Luckily, we’re here to help. 

Advertising a product, service, or business takes skill, practice, and dedication. Making a targeted advertising campaign is an entirely new skill on top of that. When it comes to targeted advertising, the more specific you can get with your ideal audience, the better. This is where something called a buyer persona can come into play. 

What is a Buyer Persona?

A buyer persona is a pretend identity that marketing and advertising teams come up with, which they imbue with all the traits they’d like their audience to have. This can then allow them to custom-tailor their advertising in a way that they believe would appeal to this hypothetical person and, by extension, their target audience. 

It’s all too common to see businesses that create targeted ads and think that by setting it up and walking away, they can successfully appeal to their audience. However, throwing an ad out there and hoping for the best isn’t a good strategy. In almost every case, this won’t work, and will only be successful in wasting your ad budget. 

Instead, you’ve got to nail down the details of who your ideal client is and what would appeal to them. Maximizing that buyer persona and optimizing your ad campaign based on that isn’t a one-and-done type of operation. Instead, you’re going to have to check on and update it regularly to best reach out to your ideal audience. 

Know Your Audience

For example, if a roofing company wants to convince more people to use metal roofing instead of shingles, they would run a targeted ad targeting people who are most likely to want a metal roof over a shingled roof. One way you can do this is by geofencing that target crowd. 

Whatever it is that you’re looking for, the more you geofence and narrow down that target audience, the more you’ll be able to drop your ad directly into their laps when they search for something related to what you do. This will also help increase your visibility and increase your chances of drawing in those customers. 

Don’t Pay for Disinterested Eyes

Only about 30% of people click on the ads they see, which pulls from your advertising budget. Ideally, instead of convincing people to click on the ad, you could use the advertisement to convince people to visit your website or contact you instead, which wouldn’t draw out of your advertising budget. 

If you have an ad but aren’t a part of the top three results, then you aren’t at all likely to get someone to visit your website. In most cases, people will ignore your ad unless you are. You can reduce advertising costs if you’re more detailed with your ad because fewer people will try to bid on such a specific keyword string. Alternatively, it could be more expensive, but it would ultimately lead to more customers and, therefore, more income, which would outweigh the cost.